School Days Badges

Time flies and it’s already the last day of the year 2017. Everyone is probably busy clearing unwanted stuffs in the house to usher in the new year. After all, since everyone wants to have a fresh start for the brand new year ahead, it is a good practice or custom to dispose unwanted items that are taking up space to create more rooms for new items on our wish list to be acquired. While I was clearing my room yesterday, I found some badges worn or attained during my primary and secondary school days which made me feel pretty nostalgic.

Most of these badges I found were worn as part of my National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) uniform during my secondary school days. Nothing could be more exciting, adventurous and memorable than joining a uniformed group as Co-Curricular Activity (CCA), something which was made compulsory by the Education Ministry to ensure every secondary school student lead a balanced and fulfilling school life. As I was pretty timid and reserved during my primary school days, joining a uniformed group had never crossed my mind initially. I was hoping to join a CCA that was more laid back just to earn enough points to meet the academic requirements to graduate from secondary school. However, my parents wanted me to join a uniformed group instead to toughen myself up for national service. There was a few uniformed group available in my secondary school namely National Police Cadet Crops (NPCC), National Cadet Corps (NCC) - Sea, Boys’ & Girls’ Brigade (BB & GB), St John Ambulance Brigade (SJAB) and Concert Band. Since I had ever been a member of the instrumental ensemble group before in primary school, joining the Concert Band seemed to be a good idea but they did not have any physical activities to toughen me up. I was not interested in becoming a first aider either and therefore SJAB was not in any of my choice. Although BB seemed to be a good choice, it is affiliated to the Christian faith requires its boys to participate in religious activities such as bible sessions which a non Christian family like mine was not comfortable with. NCC - Sea had many gruelling physical activities which my dad felt that it was not suitable for me after knowing from a senior member during my school CCA Open House event that because their activities were so physically demanding, all new members were required to undergo a health examination before joining. Hence NPCC became my only choice.

NPCC was a demanding CCA that required its members to devote much time and commitment to all its activities. Because it represents the Singapore Police Force, much emphasis were placed on regimentation. Every cadet regardless of rank was required to turn up in tip top attire with neatly ironed uniform and polished boots for parade every Saturday morning. The weekly parade consisted of activities such as foot drill (with baton or rifle) most of the time, theory or practical lessons on basic skills like First Aid, Crime Prevention, Fire Safety etc, Camp Craft (pitching of tents, knots & lashings and lighting kerosine oil lamps) and Physical Trainings (push ups, jumping, running etc). These activities were conducted by teacher officers (i.e. teachers appointed by the school principal to take charge of the CCA) or Cadet/Honorary Inspectors (Ex NPCC members who volunteered their time to take part in NPCC activities while studying in junior college, ITE, polytechnic or university) and administered by senior members in secondary 3 or 4, known as Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs). Every year, there were various activities such as Camping in school or Pulau Ubin island, Revolver Shooting, Camp Craft Competition, NPCC & National Day Parade happening during term time and school holiday. One of the proudest aspects of joining NPCC was the opportunity to experience training with weapon. There were foot drills involving the use of old rifles which were used during World War 2 and eventually distributed to all secondary schools and came under the custody of the school principal and maintained by NPCC members. All NPCC cadets also had the opportunity to fire the .22 revolver (carried by police women on duty) live at the Police Academy. After attending all the various activities, cadets feel proud upon passing the required tests and obtain the related badges.

Here are the descriptions of the above badges I attained.

(1) Civil Defence Proficiency Badge

This badge was awarded upon attending a 3 days course conducted by the Singapore Civil Defence Force on basic First Aid & Fire Fighting and passing the theory and practical test. Somehow, I missed the session which the entire cohort of secondary 3 and 4 cadets went to the community centre near our school for this course and had to go to one of the Civil Defence camp together with few other cadets to attend this course.

(2) NPCC Safety First Proficiency Badge

This was the very first badge I obtained and was awarded upon passing the theory test consisting of few multiple choice questions on traffic signs and rules. One of the teacher officers conducted a short lesson on this topic followed by the theory test which was fairly simple.

(3) NPCC Crime Prevention Proficiency Badge

This badge was awarded upon passing the theory test consisting of few multiple choice questions on Crime Prevention. One of the teacher officers conducted a short lesson on this topic followed by the theory test which was fairly simple.

(4) NPCC Neighbourhood Watch Proficiency Badge

This badge was awarded upon passing the theory test consisting of few multiple choice questions on Neighbourhood Watch. One of the teacher officers conducted a short lesson on this topic followed by the theory test which was fairly simple.

(5) Singapore Anti Narcotics Association (SANA) Anti Drug Abuse Badge

This badge was awarded upon attending a 3 days course conducted by SANA on anti drug abuse, passing the theory test and completion of a small project. From what I recall, this course was conducted like once every year and I was one of the 4 cadets (2 males and 2 females) chosen by our main teacher officer during secondary 3 to attend. This torturing 3 days course consisted of long hours of lectures. The SANA volunteers talked about the various types of drug and how people abuse them while police officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) shared how they detect, arrest and prevent people from abusing or smuggling drugs. This course was conducted at SANA headquarter which was located at Orchard, near The Forum shopping mall at that time. Fortunately, we were dressed in our full NPCC uniform while attending the lessons because the air-conditioning in their lecture room was so cold. We were given $3 per day for lunch by NPCC headquarter which was obviously not sufficient given the fact that a proper meal cost more at Singapore prime shopping district. To save the hassle, the 4 of us including many other attendees settled our lunch at the fast food restaurant across the course venue. When we were dispersed for lunch in our full NPCC attire, there were many curious tourists (mostly And Mohs) wondering why there were so many policemen and policewomen out on the streets. LOL

(6) NPCC Drill Proficiency Badge (3rd Class)

This badge was awarded upon passing the test on giving commands to a squad to perform basic foot drill.

(7) NPCC Drill Proficiency Badge (2nd Class)

This badge was awarded upon passing the test on giving commands to a squad to perform foot drill with rifle.

(8) NPCC Name Tag

Every NPCC cadet wears a name tag above the left breast pocket.

(9) Singapore Police Force Crest

Every NPCC cadet wears this crest above the left eye on his/her beret.

(11) NPCC Unit Formation Logo

Every NPCC cadet wears the formation (school) logo on both side to show which unit (school) he/she is from.

The non NPCC badges include ..

(10) Presbyterian High School (PHS) Badge

Every PHS student wears this school badge above the left pocket of the shirt/blouse. Before I was enrolled into the school, the school logo was different and the badge was sewn onto the shirt/blouse at the same position. When I enrolled into the school, the logo changed and after students complained about being uncool/childish wearing a cloth badge, the school decided to switch to this metal badge which is worn by existing students till today. Although it looks more fancy wearing a metal badge, there is a chance of getting poked by the safety pin if we are not careful. Moreover, some students may forget to wear this school badge when they are in a rush and risk being caught and booked by prefects.

(12 - 14) National Swimming Survival Award (Bronze, Silver, Gold)

These badges were awarded upon passing the National Swimming Survival test conducted by Singapore Sports Council. The test consisted of 3 parts. First, candidates were required to tread water for several minutes in their pyjamas (shirt and trousers) attire followed by removing the pyjamas, tying knots on both ends of the trousers and blow air into it to form a "float" and used it to swim for half a lap without having feet touching the floor or holding on to the edges of the swimming pool. Immediately thereafter, the candidate would be required to swim for several laps without feet touching the floor or holding on to the edges to complete test. Finally, candidates were expected to come out of the swimming pool without the use of the ladder to pass the test. This test was supposed to simulate the scenario of falling into the sea, swimming to shore and climb up via the rocks. The duration of treading water and number of lap increases as the candidate progressed from Bronze to Gold award.

Looking at these old badges certainly makes me feel having some sense of achievements during my school days and motivates me to obtain more certificates in future.

Interesting Facts About The Equator

Most people know that the Equator is just an imaginary line dividing the northern and southern hemisphere of the earth. The Geography lesson which we had in school taught us that the latitude is 0 degree at the Equator and places in this region have constant high temperature, high humidity, high amount of rainfall and consistent amount of daylight throughout the year. The Equator is therefore perceived nothing more than just an important reference point on the world map. However, there are interesting facts about the Equator which our Geography lessons did not cover for unknown reasons.

Here are some of the interesting facts about the Equator.

Ideal Location For Spaceports

The earth bulges slightly at the Equator, making its diameter approximately 43 km greater than that at the poles. This feature makes places near the Equator ideal location for spaceports (e.g. spacecraft launching stations). As the earth regions around the Equator rotate at higher speed, less fuel is required to launch spacecraft.

Lesser Gravitational Force

It is believed that there is lesser gravity at places near the Equator than those nearer to the poles for 2 reasons. The first reason is bulging of the earth nearer to the Equator (similar to the point mentioned above) makes it further away from the centre of the inner earth, thereby reducing the gravity. The second reason is the presence of more centrifugal force at the Equator to reduce the gravity.

Absence of Coriolis Force

The Coriolis Effect is an important phenomenon that explains why water and air flows in opposite direction on the 2 hemispheres of the earth. In the northern hemisphere, water and air flows in the counter clockwise direction whereas in the southern hemisphere, they flow in a reverse direction. As mentioned above that the earth bulges slightly at the Equator, regions of the earth near the Equator spins faster than those nearer to the poles. As a result, air that travels in the direction of the Equator to the north pole gradually diverts to the right as the earth spins from west to east. The situation is similar for water flowing out of the sink. If you are still unclear, watch this video that explains the Coriolis Effect. Since the Coriolis Force acts in a north south direction, the Equator being the line that divides the north and south has no Coriolis Force. You would probably be interested like me to conduct a simple experiment yourself at home after learning about this Coriolis Force theory. I had observed that the water flows in a single direction downwards in the sink, toilet bowl and bath tub in my home. In fact, you really cannot rely on the sink, toilet bowl and bath tub for this simple experiment as which direction water would flow depends on the design of the piping system. Obviously, you would need a setup that eliminates all other variables which is shown in this video.

Due to the 3 interesting facts mentioned above, there are 2 interesting phenomenons observed at the Equator. As there is lesser gravity at the Equator, a person naturally weighs slightly lesser and would encounter difficulty walking in a straight line along the Equator because of conflicting gravitational pull from the north and south. There was also a simple experiment which a few poker cards (stacked together) placed along the Equator line were glued onto the palm of a man (without using any adhesive) when he touched them and slowly moved his palm upwards. It is also supposed to be seemingly easier to make an egg stand on the tip of a nail at the Equator. No where else on earth other than the Equator would produce such effects. The second phenomenon related to the Coriolis Force is that water neither swirl in a clockwise or counter clockwise direction. Instead, it flows downwards from a sink onto a pail when the experiment was conducted.

There are 11 countries in the world which are traversed by the Equator. These countries include São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Indonesia, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil. Some of these countries have erected monument at their Equator line. Ecuador, being particularly proud of its equatorial location has a monument known as Mitad del Mundo located 26 km north of its capital city, Quito. Mitad del Mundo was built to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the French Geodesic Mission, an 18th-century scientific expedition intended to help determine whether the earth’s circumference was greater at the Equator or around the poles. Every year, thousands of visitors flock to this attraction not because of its fanciful souvenir shops, posh cafeterias or interesting museum. Rather, these visitors are hoping to have photos of them with each foot on one side of the Equator taken and to witness interesting phenomenons along the Equatorial line. Unfortunately, this monument was built at the wrong place. The actual location is in fact 240 metres further north of this monument. This mistake was unknown until the invention of Global Positioning System (GPS) in recent years which helped to determine a more accurate position. Although many people argue that GPS may produce different readings depending on how it is calibrated and is subjected to interference, it is definitely more accurate than measuring techniques used during the 18th-century. Despite this big mistake, Mitad del Mundo remains as a tourist attraction because the mistake is too expensive to be rectified. Fortunately, for visitors who insist on getting to the real Equatorial line, there are two other sites available. The first site is the privately-owned Intinan Museum which the owner claimed that the real Equatorial line traversed through based on GPS reading. The second site is the Quitsato Sundial, a cultural-tourist place located 47 km at North of Quito. The location of Quitsato Sundial was also proven by GPS to be 00 00 00 0 degree north (i.e. true Equator). Google Map shows Mitad del Mundo and Intinan Museum are near each other whereas Quitsato Sundial is some distance away.

If you are living in Asia, you may choose to visit the nearest Equatorial line in Indonesia instead of traveling a long voyage to Africa or South America. There are several places in Indonesia which the Equator passes as mentioned in this article. The nearest site from Singapore is Pontianak city which is about 631 km away. The best time to visit any Equatorial monuments is during the March and September equinoxes when the direct overhead sun produces no shadow.Similar to Ecuador, there are also controversies that some of these monuments no longer lie on the exact Equatorial line possibly due to the shifting location of the Equator (I really do not understand how this is possible). Perhaps if you have the chance to visit any of these monuments, you can verify the location yourself using the GPS function in your smartphone. All you need to do is to stand on the Equatorial line facing the east or west direction with a smartphone on your hands pointing to the direction you are facing. When the readings show you 0 00 00 degree north, congratulations for earning the experience to stand on the real Equatorial line! If not, please move northwards or southwards accordingly based on the readings. The real Equatorial line should not be so far away.



Despite all the controversies of the location of the Equatorial line, it is interesting to witness the phenomenons in all the sites which claim to be the exact location of the Equatorial line. This leads to questions of whether the location of the Equatorial line is constantly changing, whether readings from GPS is indeed accurate and whether the experiments conducted at those sites are conclusive. There is also a theory mentioning that the Equator itself is not a mere line of several millimeters thick but rather a line having a width of 5 km which explains why those phenomenons happen within the 5 km width. Whatever the case is, Equator monuments around the world continues to draw tons of visitors due to the fact that the Equator is an important reference point on the world map.  

Another interesting thing worth mentioning about the Equator is that there is a ritual known as the Line Crossing ceremony that commemorates a sailor's first crossing of the Equator. In this ceremony, sailors who have already crossed the Equator are nicknamed Shellbacks while those who have not crossed are nicknamed Pollywogs. Pollywogs are supposed to pay respect to King Neptune and endure a series of "hardships" administered by Shellback when the ship crosses the Equator. This tradition observed by ocean liners, merchant vessels and naval ships ensures that Pollywogs are capable of handling long rough times at sea in order to be promoted to a Shellback. Some cruise ships hold this ceremony for entertainment purpose as well.

Andre Rieu Orchestra

Recently, I am obsessed with watching YouTube videos on concerts performed by André Rieu, a well-known Dutch violinist and conductor. He is extremely successful in turning classical and waltz music into a worldwide concert touring act. I was glad to chance upon his magnificent concerts while searching for videos online.

Here are some of my favourite videos of his concerts and what I like about them.

Walking In The Air
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1-41Memra0

This is actually a song written for the 1982 animated film "The Snowman". This flim relates the fleeting adventures of a young boy and a snowman who flew to the North Pole in which this song is the theme for the journey. In this video, the concert itself was held during Christmas Eve at the castle which Andre lives in. Andre believes that nothing is more important than spending Christmas at home with his family, neighbors and loved ones which is the reason why this concert was held at his place of residence. This song was sung by 3 gorgeous soprano singers accompanied by a young magnificent ballerina who flew across the beautiful snow-filled castle during the concert.



Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWH3Hmsr5fM

This is a rather long and hard to pronounce word which is the title of a song from the 1964 Disney musical film "Mary Poppins". Although it may sound childish, it actually has the meaning of  "something to say when you have nothing to say". In this video, the singer "Mary Poppins" appeared by hanging in mid air and slowly made her descent to the stage. The song is humorous and very entertaining even to adults.


I Will Follow Him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqN9aS2S3L0

This song has always been an all-time favourite after it gained popularity worldwide through being featured at the end of the 1992 flim "Sister Act". Similar to how it appeared in the flim "Sister Act", a group of ladies started by singing the chorus before the lead singer took over. As seen in the video, many female audiences enjoyed the song so much that they began to dance and sing along. 


Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZb-SVm7eLE

There are several versions of this song and I believe this one is the most popular. Although Hallelujah is a Hebrew word which means 'Glory to the Lord', you would unexpectedly learn that this version of the song can be interpreted as having a sexual connotation from parts of the lyrics as follows:

Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew ya
She tied you to the kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips, she drew the Hallelujah


Can't Help Falling In Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuH_90giGTQ

A pop ballad originally recorded by the legendary American singer Elvis Presley which took the world by storm was once again enjoyed by thousands in Maastricht, the hometown of Andre. I adore the way Andre played the tune on his violin while thousand of audiences sang this song while dancing with their partners. The dance performance which the male dancer carried the female wheelchair-bound dancer up in the air and swing was simply stunning. In fact, I can feel the solemness of the audiences and the performances reaffirming their love to their partners through this video. Hence, it is no doubt this is my favourite video of all!


My Heart Will Go On
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3SfufW6D74

Many people are familiar with this theme song for the 1997 American romance-disaster film "Titanic". In this video, the song blends well with the stunning ice-skating performance together with the beautiful square in Vienna.


Once Upon A Time In The West
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_KXyMaoB8

This was the soundtrack for the 1968 epic Spaghetti Western film portraying two conflicts that take place around Flagstone, a fictional town in America: a land battle related to construction of a railroad, and a mission of vengeance against a cold-blooded killer. It was composed by the renowned Italian composer, Ennio Morricone who is one of my favourite.


The Godfather Main Title Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSxxQcVd2MU

This was the soundtrack for the 1972 American crime film "The Godfather". Although I have not watched this film and the one mentioned just above, both soundtrack are melodious to me. I believe they relate to the aspects the the film very well.


Personally, I like the way which Andre held most of his concerts in an open area which ensures natural ventilation and gives his audiences some space to dance along with the music. All his performers are very well-dressed like him in regards to the concerts. Perhaps the most important factor for his success is the professionalism of him and his orchestra. Besides making the audiences dance and sing along with the music, some of his performances also make them cry. I certainly hope to attend his concert someday.

Gentlemanly Ladies

I attended a food fair at Sentosa last weekend with my parents. The food fair featured famous chefs, of whom some of them have appeared on TV or have obtained the prestigious Michelin star award. Each of these chefs prepared food at their respective stall setup at the event venue together with their helpers. There were 3 sections in this food fair, 2 of them were private and only available to ticket holders. The other one of them were open to public. Admission ticket to the 2 private sections consists of coupons to purchase dishes. A typical stall at the event caters about 3 or 4 dishes prepared by a chef. Every dish came in extremely small portion and cost about $16 to $25. When the ticket holders had used up all their coupons, they may continue to purchase dishes from these stalls using credit cards. As this food fair was setup at a crowded open area within a resort, there were limited tables and also long queues forming at the stalls even though the price of the dishes were ridiculously expensive.

After several minutes of waiting with dishes on our hands, we managed to find seats at 2 tables joined together after the diners who occupied them left to patronize the other sections. Each table has 3 seats. While we were happily consuming our food, a young lady with 2 guys (they were probably in their early or mid 20s) appeared. The lady asked whether they could occupy the other table beside the one we occupying. My mum told her that the table was unoccupied but one of the seat at the table was reserved by someone else. As there were no other tables available at that moment, the lady told the 2 guys to sit down while she went around to look for chair. She was indeed lucky enough to find a chair within a few minutes. The 2 guys were happily consuming their food as the 3 of them had already purchased some dishes. Even after the lady had found a chair, she did not sit down to consume her food immediately. Instead, she walked away for a while and then came back with 2 bottles of Coke which she gave to the 2 guys. The 2 guys were a little surprised and thanked her. As I was eating and observing the 3 of them, I realized this lady did not consume much food. Most of the time, the 2 guys were chatting and eating at the same time while this lady was away.

I do not know the relationship between this lady and the 2 guys. They were probably just friends. What surprised and caught my attention was how this lady behaved so gentlemanly towards the 2 guys. It is not a norm especially in Singapore for young girls to behave this way. From her looks and ascent, she seems to be a native Singaporean. As an appreciation, the guys could have offered to buy her some food after they had finish consuming theirs. Although this lady is not drop dead gorgeous in appearance, I would certainly find chance to befriend her if I were younger. Although my encounters with her was only a few minutes, her gentlemanly behavior had caught my attention and is certainly a very attractive trait to many men.

Overall, I do not really enjoy this food fair because I am not someone who knows how to enjoy and appreciate good food. Moreover, the long queues and limited seating were high turnoff. Worst of all, the price was ridiculously expensive. The money could have been better spent by dining at a restaurant with proper seating and people serving you.

我最喜欢的校服

这几天和我一位朋友通过微信 (WeChat) 聊天时，发现自己对校服很有兴趣和研究。因为这位朋友在新加坡北部的一所小学当华文老师，我和她聊天时都尽量用中文。竟然这个话题有好多东西分享，我决定首次用中文写作。希望这位老师朋友读了我这篇文章能够和我打分😀。

在新加坡有上百间小学，中学和几间初级学院。每间学校的校服都不一样。除了颜色不同，本地的校服也有相当多的款式。这个趋势让我们在设计校服方面发挥创意也让不同学校的学生们有更多的认同感。当你是学生的时候，喜欢穿自己学校的校服吗？有些学生为了自己绚丽色彩的校服感到骄傲，另一些觉得自己的校服难看，不亮眼。

年轻的我在文武小学 (Kebun Baru Primary School) 念书。这间在宏茂桥第二道的小学校服是浅蓝上半身和深蓝下半身。浅蓝的上衣有学校的英文校名。男学生和女学生都穿同样的上衣。男学生穿短裤，女学生穿的裙子两旁有口袋，前面有两个倒翻 V 字型的褶 (pleat), 后面有拉链。蓝色代表智慧，是校服的传统和最平常的颜色之一。我认为这间小学的校服还算不错。大多数的人都会觉得蓝色的校服看得顺眼。设计方面，上衣很特别因为有学校的名字。短裤和裙子都很平常。裙子的设计(尤其是那两个倒翻 V 字型的褶) 像上班族女性穿的裙子一样。可惜这间小学在很多年前和附近的几间小学合并，校名和校服也都换了。

念完小学后，我被分配到长老会中学 (Presbyterian High School)。这间中学也同样在宏茂桥，离我家不远。这是一间很保守纪律严格的教会中学。就因为这样，校服是白色上半身和深蓝色下半身。男学生和女学生都穿同样的白色上衣。中一和二的男学生穿短裤。中三到五的男学生穿长裤。所有的女学生穿有撤的裙子。裙子前后有六个撤，左边有拉链，右边有口袋。因为这个校裙很风骚 (flair)，所以穿起来很舒服 (虽然我不是女生也没穿过裙子，我认为穿上这个校裙应该十分舒服因为它不会限制脚步动作😝)。穿上这件校裙后，女学生变得更可爱。所以我认为这件校裙比较适合小学的女学生。这间中学也规定学生在出席每个星期的集会时都要打学校深蓝色的领带。上集会时，副校长都会在礼堂绕一圈，把没打学校领带的学生拖到一旁罚站。当我念中四时，有一位在课外活动认识的中三学妹每次都跟我借学校领带。因为中四和中五的集会在休息 (recess) 之前所以休息时我就可以把领带交给她。或许我不应该每次借她领带，让她试试被副校长罚站哈哈！这间中学唯一最特别的特正是让女学长 (female prefects) 穿不一样的裙子。女学长穿的校裙和大多数的初级学院的校裙一样，不风骚，比较紧，前面有个倒翻的 V 字型的褶，两边有口袋，后面有拉链。裙子的蓝色比普通女学生的校裙深。

一转眼，四年过了。考完 O 水准后，我选择到理工学院就读，终于不用穿校服了！这是一件又爱又恨的事。有了穿着自由，通常女生们比焦高兴尤其是那些讨厌穿裙子的女生。不过，我们这些高等学府的学生也为穿着伤脑筋。

穿了十二年的校服(从幼稚园到中学)，我很怀念穿着校服的日子。我理想中的校服是圣安德烈初级学院 (St. Andrew Junior College) 的校服。这间初院和我的中学有关联，所以校服颜色都一样。白色代表纯洁，深蓝色代表智慧。这两个颜色用在校服上，最好不过！只要搭配深蓝色的初院领带，学生们显得聪明，像一名兼业人士。这间初院女学生穿的校裙和我中学女学长穿的校裙一样。我认为如果穿上这间初院的长裤或校裙配上一件卷起来 (tuck out) 的白色上衣就看起来和一班的上班族穿着一样。不妨尝试？

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我这位华文老师朋友读了这篇作文后给了以下的评论。


她发信息给我时，我真好在忙着做一些事，所以用英文来回复比较快。虽然她不好意思替我打分，很高兴从她这位华文老师拿到A★的成绩。写了这篇作文后让老师阅读和评估，感觉好像做回了学生! 不知道她这位老师对我的印象如何。😇

Big Data Specialization E-Learning

The 3 areas that support the Internet of Things (IoT) are Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cyber Security. Being enthusiastic in IoT, I began taking the first step to acquire some foundation knowledge for these 3 areas. Having prior knowledge and experience in data extraction and manipulation using relational databases (e.g. Oracle, MS SQL, Postgres etc), Big Data Analytics naturally became the first item on my learning roadmap.

As IoT involves linking multiple devices together via network in order to communicate with one another, a huge volume of data would be generated in the process. These data must be analyzed in order to make further decision to achieve the intended purpose of having little or no human intervention. Another objective of Big Data Analytics is to discover hidden patterns or trends from huge volume of raw data for the purpose of making decisions to improve business processes or generate more revenue.

Due to limited time, the best way for me to acquire some foundation knowledge for these 3 areas is through Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC). The multiple advantages which MOOC provides includes having flexible schedule (study at your own convenience and pace), inexpensive (most courses are below USD 100) and having a pay-as-you-learn model which allows learners to pay to attend courses and stop whenever they wish to without incurring large sum of money. The best part is that everything which the learner has accomplished will be saved and he/she can choose to pay to resume anytime later from where he/she has stopped. These are major plus points for busy working professionals with full time job and family commitments. With MOOC, we can enroll for and study a course to gauge our interest and suitability before committing huge amount of time and money to pursue more in-depth courses for the same area. The major disadvantage of MOOC is the lack of recognition by employers and educational institution due to the difficulties in ensuring that the learners submit true copies of their own work and attempt the online assessments themselves without any assistance. Nevertheless, having MOOC certificates would show possessing initiative to learn which is something that employers look out for. If you expect to be qualified and eventually be employed for a particular profession after completing a course, you should enroll for a non-MOOC course.

Since I had already completed an online course through Coursera (the one mandated by my institution for all staff to attend), I made use of the same MOOC provider to search for and pursue a data analytics course. After 3 months of intensive studying online, I have completed the Big Data Specialization offered by Coursera. This is the first specialization from this course provider, Coursera which I had completed.

Here are some key points which I wish to share about this specialization.

About this Specialization

• Objective is to gain an understanding of what insights big data can provide through hands-on experience with the tools and systems used by big data scientists and engineers.

• Consists of 6 courses created by the University of California San Diego and offered through Coursera.

• No prior programming or big data experiences required but advantageous to understand SQL and how to work with relational database management systems.

• Subscription to this specialization cost approximately USD50 per month. Learners are expected to spend an average of 7 months to complete all 6 courses.

• Mode of learning includes video lectures, quizzes (theory & hands-on), peer-graded assignments and discussion forums.

• As this specialization requires the Cloudera Virtual Machine (VM) and some open-source tools to be installed, there are hardware and OS requirements to be met. 

List of Courses 

1. Introduction to Big Data 
2. Big Data Modeling and Management Systems 
3. Big Data Integration and Processing 
4. Machine Learning With Big Data 
5. Graph Analytics for Big Data 
6. Big Data - Capstone Project
   

About the Capstone Project

The Capstone project is about analysing the data set for a game and to make recommendations to improve the game or generate more revenue from the game.

The name of the game is “Catch the Pink Flamingo” and its key details are as follows.

• Online game created by Eglence Inc. (an imaginary company).

• Multi-user and multi-level game where players can choose to join or form a team.

• Objective​ of the game is to catch as many Pink Flamingos as possible. These Pink Flamingos randomly pop up on a gridded world map based on missions that change in real­ time. The levels get more complicated in mission speed and map complexity as the users or team move from level to level.

• Provides chat boards for the teams to keep in touch.

• Users are allowed to purchase items to be used in the game. This is a major source of revenue for the company.

• Another form of revenue is advertisements shown in the game. Users’ clicks on advertisements are recorded.

Tools used in the Capstone Project

1. Splunk - Tool for analyzing machine-generated big data.
2. KNIME - Open source data analytics, reporting and integration platform.
3. Apache Spark - Open-source distributed computing framework.
4. Neo4J - Graph database management system.

Processes used in the Capstone Project

Part 1 (Aggregation & Filtering using Splunk) Review the data sets (in CSV format) and the Entity Relationship Diagram provided. Perform aggregation on the items purchased and revenue generated. Perform filtering on the total amount of money spent by the top ten users (ranked by how much money they spent).

Part 2 (Classification using KNIME) Perform classification to predict which user is likely to purchase big-ticket items (i.e. cost more than $5). Generate the decision tree and confusion matrix. The decision tree shows the predicted number of users based on categories and the confusion matrix shows the number of correctly and incorrectly predictions. Conclude the analysis and make recommendations.

Part 3 (Clustering using Spark) Select attributes from the CSV files provided and aggregate them. Perform clustering. This may be a repetitive task as the attributes selected may not reveal any significant differences between the clusters. The results also varies according to the number of clusters generated. Recommend actions to help improve the company’s business.

Part 4 (Analyzing graphs using Neo4J) Load all the CSV files containing chat data for the game to create the graph database. Query the graph database created to find useful information.

My Opinions on this Specialization

Pros

• Suitable for beginners who have no experience in data analytics.

• Flexible schedule that allows learners to learn at their own pace and availability.

• Subscription fees are inexpensive which allows learners to have an idea of Big Data Analytics in order to decide if they are interested to commit more time and money to pursue more in-depth courses in this area.

Cons

• Without proper assessments, the certifications obtained may not recognized by employers or academic institutions.

• Need to install VM and tools for hands-on. There are hardware and OS requirements to be met. The VM and tools consume huge amount of memory and disk space which slows down the computer.

• When facing difficulties in tools installation and/or course syllabus are encountered, only source of help is the discussion forums. After submitting a post in the forum, the learner can only wait for the instructors or fellow learners' reply.

• Certain chapters contain complex mathematical formulas which are intimidating to some learners.

• Course materials not up to standard (i.e. Theory quizzes too easy. Instructions not clear and contains mistakes).
  

A week after the completion of this specialization, I received the following email from Coursera Community inviting me to be part of their Beta Tester team. This is indeed a great opportunity for me to preview new courses in areas which I am interested in before their launch. I certainly hope to give constructive feedback to the course instructors to ensure high standards in the learning materials.

Adapting & Growing With Technology

It has been a hectic 3 months since I last updated my blog. Besides the increasing work load due to the academic cycle in my institution, I have been aggressively gaining knowledge and skills for the sake of my future. Some people are perhaps wondering why I chose to torture myself to take up courses when there is no intention to switch jobs or have any direct benefit to my work. The real reason is because I simply have no choice. Especially for professionals in the technology related fields, constant upgrading of skills is necessary to stay relevant in our profession. Although some people find it silly to be in technology related fields such as IT or engineering, I beg to differ. Technology is advancing at such a supersonic pace that half the jobs that exist today may be phased out in a decade or earlier. One good example of such job is  vehicle driver. Driverless cars and buses are already in testing phase and are expected to roll out commercially in a couple of years time. Many jobs are in the process of being replaced by technology. However, it does not necessarily mean that human intervention is no longer needed. When the North East MRT line started operating in Singapore more than a decade ago, the trains were driverless. Without the need for a staff to operate each train, there was however a need for at least one staff to be stationed in each train to maintain order and deal with technical glitches or emergency situations. In this case, there was no reduction in headcount. Instead, additional headcount is needed to ensure the well-being and safety of commuters. As the train system became more complex through the use of driverless technology, more technical expertise are required to perform the maintenance of the train system. In a way, the use of more advanced technology created more job opportunities for the workforce. As such, there is job opportunities for everyone as long as you are willing to adapt and grow. 

There are some people especially those in middle or upper management levels who gladly assume that their jobs are as stable as a mountain and refuse to upgrade their skills. This is certainly not true according to a theory from Charles Darwin, the famous naturalist, geologist and biologist which states that "It is not the strongest species that will survive but those that are adaptable to changes". A good example to prove the trueness of this theory is the acquisition of NK, the once renowned mighty mobile phone manufacturer in the world. Its products were so wonderful that in its hay days, out of 10 persons walking on the streets, at least 7 of them owned its phone. Since its products were great and the company did not make any mistakes or wrong decisions, why did it end up in such a pathetic state? The reason was simply because the company was not well adaptable to changes. Although the company launched smart phones during the era when iPhone and smart phones from other technology firms became popular, its products were disappointing. The company failed to incorporate innovative features into their 3G smart phones like how it did to include famous games to its 2G mobile phones which took the world by storm. Worse of all, the Operating System and software installed on its smart phones were lacking in user friendliness and full of bugs. Obviously, the company failed to maintain innovation and quality by adapting to the changes of mobile phone technology transiting from 2G to 3G. This is clearly an example of the fittest species which was unable to adapt to changes and being eliminated eventually.

As Singapore aspires to transform herself into a smart nation, many of her citizens and residents look forward to the benefits which the Internet of Things technology can offer. The government has been aggressively injecting funds for such projects and promoting awareness. However, the biggest obstacle in this transformation journey is probably the lacking in expertise. First of all, Engineering and IT have always been the least popular choice of study among the Institutes of Higher Learning in Singapore. A large portion of the students enrolled into the courses for these two technology related fields either achieved examination grades that do not qualify them for courses in more sought after fields (such as Business or Finance) or failed to secure a place in those courses which are more popular. Few students would choose technology related courses because of interest in this area. Due to the ongoing smart nation campaign, a lot of children as young as those in primary schools started learning basic programming but not many of them would eventually choose IT or Engineering related studies by the time they reach tertiary level in education. Secondly, although there are technology related students graduating every year, a large portion of graduates from technology related courses do not remain in the profession for long. The long working hours, unattractive salary and worse of all, little recognition forces most of them to switch to other professions. These factors resulted in an acute shortage of technology related professionals so much that the government has to accept foreigners to makeup the shortfall. The smart nation dream would most likely be a fantasy without people with the right skills to implement and support. Given such circumstances, development jobs which are outsourced to technology professions based overseas, quality control and communication becomes a challenge. Even after the project has been completed and the product successfully launched, it has to be supported by professions based locally for faster response. The route to a smart nation and thereafter certainly creates more technology related jobs for interested job seekers to fill. In fact, Singapore already has an oversupply of management professions and what is lacking most is technical positions waiting for people to fill.